Our network brings together over 70 member organisations across more than 30 countries, forming a unique and connected ecosystem.
This Annual Report highlights our activities, achievements, and impact in 2025, showcasing how we support social economy organisations, foster innovation, and promote sustainable and inclusive growth across the global landscape.
BOOSTING COMPETITIVENESS
Through targeted training, mentoring, and capacity-building, we strengthened digital and green skills, promoted sustainable business models, and advanced impact measurement—while fostering inclusive opportunities for young people, women, and underrepresented communities across Europe and beyond.
We strengthened the capacity of social economy organisations and professionals to respond to evolving challenges. Through targeted training, blended learning, and digital tools, the initiatives developed competencies in innovation, sustainability, data-driven strategies, organisational development, and Socially Responsible Public Procurement—strengthening resilience and impact.
We did this through:
We supported practitioners and social enterprises in developing sector-specific and inclusive entrepreneurship skills. Through targeted training and collaborative learning, participants gained practical knowledge to professionalise their activities, strengthen resilience, and foster innovation inthe creative arts and research-driven sectors.
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We equipped social economy organisations with the practical skills to design, manage and fund European projects. Training in EU programme management, partnership building, budgeting, and impact measurement strengthened organisations’ ability to access resources, scale initiatives, and deliver sustainable social impact.
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We supported social economy organisations in developing innovative business models, improving impact measurement, and strengthening sustainability practices. By promoting value-based management, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based decision-making, these initiatives enhanced organisational resilience, competitiveness, and the ability to deliver social and environmental impact across Europe.
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We reinforced the capacities of social enterprises, SMEs, to grow, innovate, and collaborate across borders. Through mentoring, training, knowledge-sharing, and network-building, these initiatives strengthened local and international ecosystems, supported sustainable economic activity, and enabled social economy actors to scale their impact.
Discover our key initiatives that allow us to do this:
Internationalisation: Green Pymes, InnovHubs, bluedots, DO Impact
Local & Community-Based Development: Rural RiSE, Lakes of Albania, Youth4Development
Cultural & Creative Entrepreneurship: Agents of Change
Our Romanse initiative promoted social entrepreneurship among young Roma women by strengthening skills, employability and economic empowerment. Through training and financial support to local civil society organisations, the project contributes to more inclusive and equitable economic participation.
GREENING THE ECOSYSTEM
We supported the green transition across the social economy by building skills, promoting sustainable business practices, and fostering innovation in local communities and concrete sectors such as agrifood, tourism, and culture. These initiatives strengthened ecological resilience and positioned the social economy as a driver of sustainable and inclusive development.
We equipped social economy professionals, educators, and organisations with the knowledge and competencies needed to integrate sustainability into their work. Through training, curricula, and research, participants developed green skills that support the transition to environmentally responsible practices across sectors and communities.
Check out our key initiatives:
baSE Ttrase GREASE Spaces2NEB Youth4Development InnovHubs
We supported social economy enterprises in embedding sustainability into their business models and operations. Initiatives promoted eco-friendly production, circular economy practices, climate resilience, biodiversity, and environmental due diligence, helping organisations reduce their ecological footprint while maintaining economic performance.
Check out our key initiatives:
GRAINS SEDLEX Green Pymes
We fostered sustainable development in rural areas, local communities, and sector-specific contexts such as tourism and the blue economy. Activities strengthened local capacities, encouraged responsible resource use, and highlighted innovative models for ecological and social resilience.
Check out our key initiatives:
Rural RiSE bluedots Lakes of Albania Agents of Change
GOING DIGITAL
Select the right word to discover how we support the digital transition of our network.
LOCAL COMMUNITIES AT THE CORE
Local communities are essential to nurturing inclusive and sustainable development, playing an essential role in revitalising territories, preserving social cohesion, and driving innovation from bottom-up.
We strengthen local ecosystems by empowering communities, fostering collaboration, and building networks through awareness-raising, peer learning, mentoring, and participatory activities. Projects like GREASE anchored capacity-building in rural Cameroon, connecting local stakeholders with practical knowledge and sustainable entrepreneurship methods. Agents of Change created focus groups and meet-ups that linked creatives to societal challenges, and Youth4Development engaged young people in local and cross-border discussions, strengthening youth networks and participation in policy dialogue.
We support vulnerable groups and enhance labour market inclusion through training, co-creation labs, and community-based interventions. Ttrase worked with WISEs and organisations supporting vulnerable populations to improve local labour market opportunities, while Romanse delivered training across multiple municipalities to empower Roma women and identify local barriers to social entrepreneurship. SEQ Elevate helped NEET youth re-engage in learning and develop social, emotional, and labour market-relevant skills through community-based living labs. Equicares co-designed and tested locally relevant mental health solutions via Smart Health Labs across several countries, enhancing digital and community capacities for vulnerable individuals.
We foster sustainable development in rural territories by connecting stakeholders, facilitating dialogue, and supporting community-led initiatives. In 2025 we did this as members of the coordination group of the Rural Pact and through initiatives such as Rural RiSE, which strengthened rural actors’ capacities, facilitated youth-local authority dialogue, and supported social entrepreneurship and local action plans.
We also support urban and regional innovation through collaborative approaches and knowledge sharing. Spaces2NEB mapped common spaces and third-places across Europe, highlighting participatory methodologies and best practices. Lakes of Albania engaged local communities and entrepreneurs to identify innovative approaches linking tourism, wellbeing, and environmental stewardship.
Bluedots fostered ecosystem-wide collaboration through face-to-face and online activities, supporting SMEs, enabling organisations, and experts in developing community-led solutions. Finally, SETS piloted structured learning paths in real-world social economy organisations, embedding practical skills and approaches directly into local operations.
FROM DIALOGUE TO ACTION
We facilitated meaningful exchange, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing among social economy actors, policymakers, and stakeholders. Through policy labs, international workshops, conferences, and advocacy actions, we turned dialogue into concrete follow-up actions, promoting evidence-based policymaking, sustainable practices, and sector-wide learning.
Transition Pathway: Kick-off for the EU Proximity and Social Economy Platform
The first annual event dedicated to the new EU Proximity and Social Economy Platform, a new digital space dedicated to the implementation of the Transition Pathway for the stakeholders of this ecosystem. It was a part of a project commissioned by the European Commission (DG GROW), and it is implemented by EY Belgium, Diesis Network, Euricse and Social Economy Europe.
MARCH
EC Conference on Cooperatives:
Fostering Europe's Prosperity and Industrial transformation: Cooperatives as Drivers of Change.
Featuring several plenary sessions and workshops designed to foster dialogue among cooperatives' representatives, academics, and policymakers. It focused on how the cooperative model can contribute to a more prosperous and sustainable economy in the European Union.
Polish Presidency: SE Conference
The development directions of the Social Economy in Poland and Europe were the central theme of this international expert seminar organised at the Ministry of Labour headquarters. Representatives of public institutions, non-governmental organisations and academia shared insights and good practices relating to social entrepreneurship.
JUNE
Social Economy Europe General Assembly.
This hybrid meeting brought together members from cooperatives, associations, foundations and social enterprises to review achievements, approve the 2024 accounts and set strategic priorities for 2025 and beyond. The Assembly highlighted the vital role of the social economy in building a democratic, resilient Europe and discussed strengthening its influence in EU policymaking. It was followed by the public conference “Investing in the Future of Social Economy,” uniting experts on advancing the sector’s impact.
Social Economy Summit organised by Social Economy Europe.
We took part with the DICES project in a panel on Research, joining three other Horizon projects to show that research is not a black box, but a dynamic and collaborative process, deeply rooted in human experience.The panel highlighted the urgency of shifting perceptions about research and researchers. Research not only produce outputs, but it also enables the creation of partnerships and collaborations across sectors.
Diesis Digital Day: Boosting Digital Resilience in the Proximity and Social Economy Sector.
Hosted by Diesis Network, the event was dedicated to showcasing concrete examples of the digital social economy across Europe and globally. The 2025 edition of Diesis Digital Day, under the framework of DO Impact project, brought together experts from social economy and digital innovation sectors to explore how digital tools and data-sharing infrastructures can empower social enterprises and support sustainable development.
Blending Blue & Green for Real Sustainability.
Diesis hosted this event bringing together stakeholders from EU institutions, SMEs, social economy organisations, and support bodies. We facilitated roundtables, panel discussions, workshops, and networking sessions to explore synergies between marine (blue) and terrestrial (green) sustainability transitions. The network highlighted best practices, innovation, and collaborative approaches to foster regenerative, inclusive, and competitive economic models. We strengthened connections between sectors, supported knowledge exchange, and promoted the social and solidarity economy as a driver of long-term sustainability.
Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF), Bordeaux
Diesis Network actively participated in this major global gathering, contributing to several key moments. This included moderating a roundtable on renewable energy communities focused on data-driven strategies and financial solutions, presenting the EU-funded baSE project on skills development for the social economy, and contributing as an expert to the first European meeting on complementary local currencies. The Forum brought together thousands of stakeholders worldwide, strengthening collaboration and visibility for the social and solidarity economy.
We organised and chaired an event on Energy Communities showcasing our members practices from Italy, Sweden, Belgium and Morocco.
5th Technical Symposium of the United Nations Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE)
Held in Murcia, Spain—designated Social Economy Capital of Spain in 2025—this symposium reinforced global dialogue on advancing the social and solidarity economy. As an Observer member of the UNTFSSE, Diesis contributed by sharing its experience in capacity building for social economy organisations. The event brought together international experts and practitioners, fostering knowledge exchange and informing future UN priorities on SSE.
CONNECTING WORLDWIDE
By connecting with like-minded organisations and diverse stakeholders worldwide, we aim to strengthen our impact— by fostering collaboration and innovation to effectively adapt to an ever-evolving global landscape.
Africa
We promote transregional cooperation and capacity building in Sub-Saharan Africa through the GREASE initiative, which connects African organisations with EU partners and facilitates knowledge exchange on green and social entrepreneurship. The project engaged African VET providers in mentoring and transnational exchanges, strengthening education systems and fostering pedagogical innovation while showcasing practices that can be adapted locally.
Our ambition is to further deliver competence-based training in green and circular economy sectors.
We supported our member PFAC to strengthen local Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) ecosystems through the RELESS model, which act as a territorial platform that promotes cooperation between Social Economy actors, local authorities and communities to strengthen local economic development. This initiative led to a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation Action Plan 2026 with the Africa Regional section of the International Cooperative Alliance.
Latin America
In Latin America, we support sustainable business and network development. InnovHubs works with cooperatives across Mercosur and other Latin American countries through the RELIAC network, providing knowledge sharing, online activities, and collaborative meetings to strengthen local capacities. Green Pymes engages social enterprises in Colombia and Honduras, helping them implement sustainable business practices and connect with EU enterprises to open new market opportunities.
Western Balkans
Diesis promotes regional development and sectoral collaboration across the Western Balkans in a structural way through our Western Balkans Alliance But also via specific initiatives and projects: Ttrase supports arts and crafts enterprises, sharing knowledge and best practices to foster socio-economic growth. Lakes of Albania engages local communities to strengthen sustainable tourism and local development, reinforcing cooperation with European networks and sharing best practices.
Europe & Cross-Border Collaboration
Some initiatives span multiple regions, strengthening European and transnational cooperation. Bluedots links SMEs, enabling organisations, and experts across coastal and inland regions, combining face-to-face capacity building and online sessions to boost cross-border collaboration, knowledge exchange, and peer learning. GRAINS supported SMEs from different regions in Europe , and linked them to discover how make business can evolve to more environmentally friendly.
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE
The mid-term review of the Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP) marks an important milestone in assessing progress and shaping future priorities. Commissioned to carry out this independent review of SEAP implementation, we assessed its relevance, effectiveness, and coherence across EU-27 countries. The review confirms the social economy’s role as a driver of prosperity and competitiveness, a pillar of resilience, and a contributor to Europe’s strategic autonomy, while highlighting remaining structural challenges.
Building on this momentum, we will deepen collaboration to strengthen the resilience, visibility, and connectivity of social economy ecosystems. Supported by an EU action grant and aligned with key EU priorities, we will address structural challenges and drive ecosystem growth through Innovation, Prosperity, and Inclusion—scaling capacity-building, peer learning, and strategic partnerships across all levels.
This approach enables social economy organisations to grow, collaborate, and lead transitions, turning innovation, investment, and policy engagement into lasting, inclusive impact. Key priorities include improved access to finance, stronger links with research and universities, deeper collaboration with mainstream businesses, and greater visibility of social innovation. Globally, we will advance a 2026 Cooperation Action Plan with the Africa Regional Office of International Cooperative Alliance, building on the GREASE project and the RELESS model through a bottom-up, peer-to-peer approach."
Prosperity
We strengthen local economies, support communities in adapting to change, and build long term resilience.
Innovation
We help test new ideas, collaborate and find better ways to respond to challenges.
Inclusion
We contribute to inclusive growth, equal opportunities and social cohesion.
Guided by three core focus areas -Innovation, Prosperity and Inclusion- we will mobilise our diverse network to scale up capacity-building, peer learning, and strategic partnerships. Through this structured approach, we will foster stronger connections between local, national, and macro-regional actors, while enabling social economy organisations to grow, collaborate, and lead the transitions their ecosystems need. Our ambition is to ensure that innovation, investment, and policy engagement translate into lasting, inclusive, and sustainable impact for communities worldwide.